


It's Always the Ones You Least Expect...

by geekyvegan



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers AU, Crossover, Mutant Darcy Lewis, X-Men AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2018-08-13 00:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7955449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekyvegan/pseuds/geekyvegan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy Lewis is a mutant, raised in a home where she learned to control her powers. She doesn't use them often, focusing more on political reform for mutants. That is, until she takes an internship in New Mexico and gets thrown into the world of superheroes whether she likes it or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic, Darcy-centric or otherwise. I have ideas going forward, but I would love to hear feedback. Unbetaed, so hit me up if you wanna help out. Special thanks to Pinkpandorafrog for encouraging me to write and post!

Darcy Lewis never considered herself an extraordinary person. Not in the sense that she didn’t think she wasn’t important or couldn’t do unique and impressive things- she knew very well she was capable of all of the above. Darcy wasn’t, in her mind, extraordinary, because who she was (or more specifically what she could do) was never out of the ordinary- at least for her. 

Though she’d had these abilities for as long as she could remember, Darcy’s mother told her they appeared just after her second birthday. While most parents would have run for the hills or called their local exorcist, Teresa Lewis was made of tougher stuff. The same could not be said of her husband, Darcy’s father, who packed his bags and walked out of their lives that very night. 

Despite her heartbreak, Teresa never blamed her daughter for her father’s actions. Darcy was raised in home full of love and encouragement, where she was free to explore her gift. Well, as long as she didn’t try new things unsupervised because she didn’t think her social life you survive another grounding from late-night experimentation. 8th grade was a rough year.

Her mother never had to tell her to keep her talents quiet, Darcy just knew she was different and that some people wouldn’t be able to understand. If kids on the playground made fun of someone for their glasses, she didn’t want to know what they would do to her if they found out about her.

It wasn’t until she was 15 that Darcy realized what she was, and that she wasn’t alone. On an average Tuesday afternoon in September, Darcy was doing homework at the kitchen table when there was a knock at the door. She thought nothing of it until her mother called her into the living room, that there were people her to see her. These people were an older man in a wheelchair and a tall, beautiful woman with white hair and and air of power like Darcy had never felt. 

The man, Professor Xavier as he introduced himself, and Storm (What a cool name! Why couldn’t she have a cool name like that?!) ran a school in upstate New York for people like her. For mutants. While her mother talked with the teachers more, Darcy was reeling. Not because she was a mutant, she didn’t care about that, people were people regardless of her genetics. She was shocked because it never occurred to her that she was anything so special. She was just… Darcy. 

After an hour of conversation and demonstration of her abilities, the adults agreed that Darcy was in capable, loving hands and had enough control of her powers that uprooting her life seemed a bit pointless. Her mother did agree, however, to allow a representative from the school to check in on Darcy once in a while, as long as it didn’t distract her from her school work. 

Looking back on it, this is the day that changed everything for Darcy. After Storm and the Professor left, Darcy threw herself into research, staying up so late that by the time she looked up from her computer, it was time to get ready for school. During classes, she went through the motions, caught up in her own thoughts about the whole situation. Darcy had always known she was lucky- loving mother, stable home, never hungry. But she never realized just how fortunate she truly was. Mutants, people like her, were persecuted all over the world, especially in America. While some, like her, could hide their abilities, others were not so lucky, shunned by society with nowhere to go. That day, in 5th period French, Darcy decided it was her responsibility to change this. 

For the rest of high school, Darcy threw herself into classes, taking as many AP history and language classes as possible, after school participating in model UN, debate club, and even writing a political column for the school paper from time to time. By the time she graduated high school (valedictorian, her mother cried during her entire speech) Darcy was nearly halfway through an undergrad degree. 

Darcy has her pick of schools, but finally settled on Culver for their amazing program and generous scholarship package. (It also might have had something to do with the giant green guy who rampaged around campus during her visit, but she would never admit that to her mother.) Darcy was fast-tracked through her Bachelor’s, onto her Master’s after only two and a half years thanks to all her AP credits. 

With only one semester left before she finished her MS, Darcy’s advisor informed her that all she needed were 6 science credits to graduate. Why she needed hard science credits for political science, she’ll never know. A firm believer in practical experience, Darcy decided to earn her credits through an internship rather than a classroom setting. After dozens of applications and as many rejections, Darcy finally found someone willing to take her on, which is how Darcy found herself in the middle of the New Mexico desert standing over a hot blonde guy Jane had just hit with the van trying, trying to to freak the fuck out.


	2. Once is an Accident, Twice is a Coincidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Jane meet Thor. Thor meets a van. Twice.

“Whoa, does he need CPR? 'Cause I totally know CPR!” 

Darcy knew that now was probably not the right moment for inappropriate comments, but it was her default setting. She looked to Jane and Selvig, hoping that one of the PhDs would take charge because, really, this was way above her non-existent paygrade. 

Luckily the blonde hunk- what? She wasn’t blind- opened his eyes and groaned. Not dead. Good. Not dead is good. 

“We still need to get him to the hospital.” said Selvig, finally snapping out of his shocked stupor. 

That’s when things started getting weird. Weirder. The guy got up, shaking off the van hit like it was nothing, and started shouting at the sky. Darcy became even more wary. No average person could just get up from that type of impact, and she would know. When the guy shoved Selvig away, that was the final straw for Darcy. No one bullies my scientists! she fumed, reaching into her fanny pack for her trusty taser. 

She points the device at the man and, before he could even finish his taunt, zaps him. He convulses for a moment before falling to the ground unconscious. Satisfied her foe was defeated, Darcy turned to Selvig and Jane, who were looking at her like she had two heads.

“What? He was freaking me out!”

…

Selvig was definitely right. It would have been much easier if she had waited until the guy- Thor was his name- was in the van before she tazed him. Her arms were still sore, and they had dropped him off at the hospital hours ago. 

While Jane and Selvig talked science, Darcy took some time to reflect on the situation. She was absolutely positive that this Thor guy was 1) not human and 2) going to cause problems for Darcy and her scientists. Darcy genuinely liked Jane, beyond as just an internship supervisor. Jane was probably the smartest person she’d ever met, and unlike most scientists, took the time to explain things to Darcy. She actually felt like she was learning something from this internship. Although she had only just met Selvig, Darcy could see why Jane called him. She already considered him someone she needed to protect. Despite the fact that she rarely used her mutation, Darcy was well aware of just how lucky she was, and it was her responsibility to protect them from whatever trouble Thor was sure to bring.

Darcy was roused from her thoughts by Jane and Selvig’s raised voices, finally joining them in the hopes of defusing the situation. Unfortunately, her presence and subsequent observations did nothing but cause more excitement. 

“I think I left something at the hospital.”

“And she says I’m dramatic…” Darcy said, turning to grab her purse. She could hear Selvig chuckle in spite of himself at the comment and smiled, knowing she was already winning the scientist over. 

…

*THUNK*

“I swear I’m not doing this on purpose.”

“Sure Jan,” Darcy replied with a role of her eyes. Selvig actually laughed outright this time, stifling it with a cough as he got out of the van to once again heft Thor into the back. Talk about déjà vu. 

The drive back to the lab was an interesting one to say the least. Jane was practically vibrating with excitement as she drove, taking turns a bit hard than Darcy would have liked, especially because she was stuck in the back with Mr. Tall-Blonde-and-Probably-Crazy. On the surface, giving Dr. Selvig her usual spot seemed a sign of respect. The reality was that she wanted to keep as close an eye as possible on Thor. 

Apparently, however, she wasn’t the only one who was sizing someone up. Thor kept giving her a strange look, the very one Darcy had been giving him. She was just a bit subtler about it. She challenged his gaze and, when staring back at him didn’t work, stuck out her tongue at him. This cause a reaction in the man, but before he could respond, Jane slammed on the breaks, pitching both Darcy and Thor forward into the front seats. 

“Sorry! Sorry. Uh… we’re here.”

“Christ on a cracker Jane,” Darcy mumbled as she rubbed her forehead. “Warn a girl next time will ya? You’re not paying me enough to deal with this.”

“Darcy, I’m not paying you anything.”

“Exactly.”

…

“Smile!”

Despite her initial concerns, (which she still held, just to be on the safe side) Darcy kinda liked Thor. Anyone who ate an entire box of pop tarts and still managed to attack a massive stack of pancakes without abandon was pretty okay in her book. She knew he was still going to bring them trouble, but based on the way Jane was looking at Thor, he was probably going to be worth it. Probably. 

The first wave of said trouble was waiting for them at the lab. As they walked down the street from the diner, a truck sped past them, a familiar piece of machinery in the back.

“Hey! That’s my stuff!”

Jane rushed forward to confront the obviously government-employed thugs, Selvig and Thor close behind, but Darcy held back. Her mother may have taught her to love herself and embrace her mutation, but she wasn’t naïve. 

“I want you to listen very carefully Pumpkin,” her mother told her one night as she was tucking her into bed. “Not everyone understands how beautiful and special you are, but there are those who do know this, and they might want to hurt you or use you for your powers. If you’re ever in a situation where there are a lot of people from the government, do not draw any attention to yourself.”

Her mother’s warnings were reinforced years later during Storm’s frequent visits to her house. Though most of these visits were filled with good conversation sprinkled with Darcy demanding more stories about the X-men, (she always thought the woman could have been an actor with the way she reenacted the tales for her) Storm would always end their meetings with the same warning.

“People will try to use you Darcy- for your strengths and weaknesses. Don’t let them.”

With Storm’s words and her mother’s warnings echoing in the back of her mind, Darcy steeled herself, diving headfirst into a series of events she was sure would change her life forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to post a few times a week, but I'm in grad school so it might take longer. On the bright side, I am so used to finishing papers I promise I will finish this fic. 
> 
> As of now, I haven't decided if Darcy will have a love interest or who it will be if she does have one. I'd love to hear your opinion!


	3. Of Books and Voicemails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy tries to make a phone call. Selvig gets a message. Books do hold the answer to everything.

And here Darcy thought she was going to have to make an effort not to be noticed. Lucky for her, Jane was causing such a commotion the SHEILD agents, as they had identified themselves, paid her little attention, only pausing to take her Ipod. This, of course, was the greatest insult anyone could pay her. Darcy continued to fume as she and the scientists sat on the roof. 

“Years of research, gone.”

“They even took my iPod.”

“And your back-ups?”

“Look around! They took our back-ups. They took the back-ups of our back-ups.”

“I just downloaded, like, thirty songs on there.”

“Will you please stop talking about your iPod?!”

Darcy knew she was being irrational, but that Ipod had stopped her from going crazy in the New Mexico desert, so she was quite attached to the device. While Jane continued to bemoan her loss to Selvig, Darcy looked out at the rooftops around them. A movement on the roof across from them caught her attention. Darcy narrowed her eyes, hoping to get a better look at the source of the movement. Although nothing else on that roof moved, Darcy was acutely aware that just because SHIELD had all their research, it didn’t mean they were done with Jane. They weren’t out of the woods yet. 

…

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Come on Storm… pickuppickuppickup…” Darcy muttered under her breathe as the phone went straight to voicemail. Uttering a sound of frustration, she hung up the phone, not bothering to leave a message. Storm would see the missed call and call her right back. Besides, what was she supposed to say?

Hey Storm! I know you’re super busy educating the next generation and all, but I was wondering what you knew about some shady government agency called SHEILD? Don’t worry, they’re not here for me. They’re too busy stealing my boss’ research and ogling the fine af dude that fell out of the sky to care about me. I mean, I’d just be the icing on the cake. Anywho… call me back! Later!

Darcy laughed to herself. If she actually left a message like that, Storm would come rolling in, lightening blazing, and cause some kind of human-mutant-government incident. No, Darcy decided. She could handle this herself. She was an adult damn it! She would keep her head down and help Jane like she had been for the past few months. And if that meant providing a bit extra superhuman protection, well… no one had to know. 

Little did Darcy know, that phone call was a huge mistake. Darcy returned to the now empty lab, determine to rally the troops and formulate a plan. However, the only person in the lab when she entered was Selvig. In the less than fifteen minutes she had taken a walk, Jane has disappeared. And based on the empty lot, she’d taken the car with her. 

…

Darcy was a mess. It had been hours since she’d lost Jane. She wanted nothing more than to tear apart the entire town looking for Jane, SHIELD be damned. What kind of intern was she? Friend? Protector? Darcy didn’t even know anymore. All she knew was that she’d screwed up. Royally. 

“Darcy, stop pacing. Wearing a hole in the floor isn’t going to help anyone.” Selvig sounded like he couldn’t decide if he was comforting or chastising Darcy, his tone settling somewhere in between. 

“Well I can’t just sit down twiddling my thumbs like this whole thing is normal!” Darcy snapped at Selvig. She immediately regretted it however. Darcy stopped pacing, took a calming breath, and tried again. 

“Why don’t you check your phone again? Maybe she called and you… we missed it while we were out.” Soon after Jane ran off, Selvig volunteered to look for her around town, which apparently included a leisurely stroll through the children’s section of the public library, based on the books he’d returned with. Darcy turned back to Selvig, who was checking her phone as she’d suggested, just in time to see his face go pale. “I think you better hear this.” He said, putting the phone on speaker.

“Erik, okay, first of all, don't worry. I'm perfectly fine, really. But if you don't hear from me again, you might want to come out to the crater site and look for me. I kind of did what you said I shouldn't do. Thanks. Bye.”

Men shouting and sounds of struggle could be faintly heard under Jane’s frantic message. Darcy had officially gone from concerned but keeping her cool to total freak-out. If Jane got herself arrested or captured by these people, then Darcy would have to go rescue her, exposing her mutant status in the process. 

Darcy rounded on Selvig, who was still staring at his phone, as if it would tell him more if he looked at it long and hard enough. Her sudden turn caught his attention however; he looked up at her, startled.

“I’m going to kill her.”

Never let it be said that Darcy didn’t have a flair for dramatics.

…

SHIELD, New Mexico, and probably the entire Southwestern United States should be thanking their lucky stars, Darcy thought as she once again watched Jane and Selvig argue about their current situation. Before Darcy had the chance to play reluctant rescuer, Jane had returned, and immediately began her own rescue attempt. 

“I can't just leave him there!”

“Why not?”

“You didn't see what happened.”

As this totally intellectual exchange took place, Darcy idly flipped through the books Selvig had brought back from his earlier excursion. Not really bothering to read the text, Darcy contented herself with looking at the pictures, in case she needed to quickly intervene. One picture, however, made her stop.

“Hey! Myeu-muh!” she exclaimed, pointing at the illustration of a hammer, identified as ‘Mjolnir’ below the image. 

This observation, of course, started a new round of bickering, this time about the validity of magic and gods. As Selvig shouted something about magic with Jane quickly following with something about aliens’ science-magic, Darcy came to a realization.

“A primitive culture like the Vikings might have worshipped them as deities”

It made sense. Heck, if mutants like Storm could be worshiped as gods, certainly some alien race with great abilities would be treated the same. Darcy beamed as Jane not only agreed with her, but said ‘thank-you’, something she and Jane had been working on. Selvig still looked skeptical, but they all knew he would go along with whatever Jane said. 

It was at this moment that Darcy came to another, more terrifying, realization: she cared about Jane, and Selvig, more than she should have. She knew that if the situation called for it, Darcy would use her abilities, risking her like, without hesitation. 

Darcy was, in a word, screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry this took so long. I promise I have not abandon this story! The semester has been really hard for me, but things are looking up and I'm back at it. 
> 
> Thank you again for all your support! <3


	4. Coffee and Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is watching Darcy and she is determined to find out who it is.

Hacking into government records was probably only slightly less bad than if she had just rampaged around the SHIELD base, Darcy thought as she and Jane waited for Selvig’s call. Probably. It didn’t matter however; the damage was done. Selvig was off to rescue ‘Dr. Donald Blake’ and hopefully not get into trouble himself. They really couldn’t afford to lose another ally.

 

While Jane worked away at her computer, sporadically muttering something about “Norse idiots”, Darcy contented herself with spinning around in good desk chair. Without her iPod, Darcy was forced to find other means of entertainment. On one of her more impressive spins, (she was working out the best angle to push off from- yay science!) Darcy once again caught a movement in the corner of her eye, this time from the building across the street.

 

Darcy stopped herself quickly, nearly sending her and the chair flying in the process.

 

“Jane, I’m going for a walk.” Darcy said Jane’s way as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Jane made a sound that Darcy took as acknowledgement, not bothering to look up from the laptop. While Jane investigated her Norse aliens, Darcy had her own mystery to solve: who was watching them?

 

…

 

Clint Barton was not an idiot. Well… he wasn’t stupid. He may not have the knack for calculated deception Nat had, or the cool head Colson seemed to have in every situation, but he had good instincts and he knew how to spot a threat, which had saved his ass more times than he could count.

 

It was this type of gut feeling that had Clint following the scientists around outside his official hours at the crater. More specifically, he was watching Dr. Foster’s intern- Darcy Lewis.

 

Clint would never admit it aloud, but the girl confused him. On paper, Darcy Lewis was an average student from the East Coast with no reason for being in New Mexico aside from six science credits she was apparently too lazy to get in a class. This wasn’t the part that baffled Clint; based on his research, only someone with no scientific aspirations would go near Dr. Foster. It was academic suicide.

 

No. What mystified Clint was the way in which this supposedly ordinary girl was reacting to the whole “alien falling form the sky” thing. To say she was taking it in stride was an understatement- on one of his early recon missions he noted she seemed more concerned about her missing iPod than the threat of a government agency.

 

Clint was startled from his musings by the buzz of an incoming text message.

 

**When your done stalking the intern, I need your field report.**

 

Clint wanted to write a snarky reply to Coulson, but didn’t want to push it; he was, admittedly, acting a bit stalker-y. But when he had a feeling, he couldn’t ignore it. Putting away his phone, Clint turned back to the workshop, only to see that Darcy was gone.

 

“You know, for a government agent, you’re not very good at this whole ‘spying’ thing.”

 

Not under pain of torture, threat of death, or the actual apocalypse would Clint Barton, Senior SHEILD Agent, admit that a civilian not only snuck up on, but actually startled him. Spinning to face the girl, Clint resisted the urge to clutch his chest, hoping to play the whole thing off as nothing. Based on the look on Darcy’s face however, it wasn’t quite working.

 

“I’m not spying, I’m observing. There’s a difference.” Clint huffed, frustrated that he’d been found out.

 

“Whatever. How about you by me a coffee and I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself.”

 

…

 

Darcy stared at the man across from her over the rim of her mug, breathing in the rich scent of her coffee as she gave him a closer look. Average height and above average build, he fit right in with the rest of the jackboot thugs running around town. Yet Darcy saw a glint of mischief in his eyes and knew immediately he was different.

 

“I like you.” “How did you sneak up on me… wait what?”

 

They both spoke at the same time, but Darcy’s proclamation stopped Clint mid-sentence.

 

“I _said_ I like you. You seem like good people. Unlike the rest of your agent friends, I can tell you have some personality.”

 

“… thank you?”

 

“Welcome. So here’s the deal: I’m not going to tell Jane or our new super best friend Thor that you’ve been stalking me, and I promise I won’t cause you or your people any problems.”

 

Just like Thor, Darcy knew Clint could tell there was something different about her; sneaking up on him would have only confirmed his suspicions. The moment Darcy accepted she might have to use her abilities here, she entire game plan changed. Before, she would have ignored the figure following her and played it even more safe. But desperate times and all that. She hoped that by talking to Clint now, she could stop any further inquiries.

 

“What?”

 

Sighing as she was roused from her thoughts, Darcy spelled it out for him.

 

“Look. We both know that you think something is up with me. We _also_ both know that there are bigger, blonder fish to fry here. We stay out of each other’s way, do our jobs, and no one has to know that you let a civilian get the better of you.”

 

…

 

The only thing Clint could do was laugh. Never, in all his years at SHEILD, or even before, had he met someone so brazen. _She and Natasha would be a terrifying pair._ He thought absently.

 

“You’re right. I _do_ think something is up with you. But I agree, there are bigger issues here and you haven’t done anything to cause us any problems. Well, anything unusual.” He laughed to himself at the smirk she gave him for that last statement. “But,” he continued “I reserve the right to keep an eye on you, in case you decide to start causing more unconventional types of trouble. Just between us of course.”

 

Clint extended his hand towards Darcy, offering the agreement as an equal. “Deal.” Darcy said with a smile, meeting him in a firm but friendly handshake.

 

“But really though, how _did_ you sneak up on me?”

 

“Sorry spy-man. That’s a secret for another day.”

 

…

 

Darcy smiled as she watched Clint walk away. He may not be her type, but no sane person could ignore an ass that fine. Turning towards the lab, Darcy fished her phone out of her purse as she heard it chime.

 

**Darc, just saw your missed call. Everything okay?**

 

**Hey Storm! It’s all good. Just a spur of the moment call. Ttyl**

Darcy was calm for the first time in days as she walked into the still-empty lab. Things were finally looking up. Or so she thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the delay. I'm already working on the next chapter, but I'd love some feedback about Clint and Darcy. Thanks for sticking with me! I really appreciate it. 
> 
> Once again, unbetad.


	5. The Quiet Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start heating up! (Not in a fun way...)

The next morning Darcy made coffee and breakfast for the scientists and Thor, making sure to both comfort the hungover Selvig and poke fun at Jane for her rooftop activities. In truth, Darcy was happy for Jane; the woman needed a break from science that included more than Pop-Tarts and coffee.

 

Jane rolled her eyes at yet another lewd motion Darcy was making in her direction while Thor’s back was turned, busy at the sink with dishes. After a hearty meal and caffeine, Selvig was looking more alive and Jane’s blushing had almost fully gone down.

 

The moment was interrupted, however, by a knocking on the glass wall of the lab. Outside the door stood four people, three men and one woman, the New Mexico sun glinting off their… armor? Darcy jumped at the sound of Jane’s coffee cup hitting the floor, the scientist equally as shocked at the strange visitors.

 

At Thor’s should of “My friends!”, Darcy’s wariness turned to mild confusion as she realized they were not a threat. Lady Sif and the ‘Warriors Three’ (seriously, who names these people?) greeted Thor with a genuine enthusiasm that only developed through years of friendship. The tone quickly changed however as the Asgardians revealed that Thor’s father was actually alive and his brother Loki had betrayed them all.

 

Darcy exchanged a look with Selvig, both feeling awkward at being present during this exchange. Darcy turned away from the group, gazing out the window in an attempt to give them some semblance of privacy. The sky was vast and cloudless as always, a blue spanning as far as the eye could see…

 

_What’s that?_

 

The solid blue was interrupted by a cloud formation in the distance. A cloud formation that was rapidly growing, forming into a storm just like the one Thor arrived in.

 

“Ummm…” Darcy’s voice cute through the room, attention turning from the Asgardian gaiety to her. “Was somebody else coming?” Darcy asked, pointing towards the now massive storm in the distance.

 

Before anyone could reply, the Bifrost funnel exploded down, connecting to the earth and delivering its passenger. The ground beneath them rumbled, Darcy and Jane exchanging looks of alarm as Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three ran out of the lab to face what Darcy could only assume was impending doom.

 

“Shit.”

 

…

 

Puente Antiguo was in chaos. Darcy ran through the streets, looking for any civilians left in the line of fire. She knew she had no place in this fight- Thor and his buds needed to deal with their shit themselves. Darcy instead started clearing out businesses and evacuating civilians. Thankfully, once they realized they were no match for the giant, flame throwing robot, the SHEILD agents followed her lead, transporting the townspeople to relative safety.

 

Though she’d seen Clint running around, they hadn’t had time to do more than wave in a “Hey! I’m not dead!” type of way. Darcy had moved on from people to the local pet store, passing off as many puppies, kittens, and scaly/furry critters to the fleeing citizens. She had just passed off the last puppy and was watching the vehicle drive away when she heard someone shout her name.

 

“Darcy! Behind you!” Clint yelled from across the street as he ran towards her. She turned around just as a pickup truck came flying at her at high speed, thrown by a blast from the Destroyer.

 

The only thing Darcy could do was brace for impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is shorter that normal, but it was a good cliff hanger and I got it up in a reasonable time!
> 
> Next chapter, we finally find out Darcy's mutation!!!


	6. And It All Came Crashing Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mutation revelation.

If Darcy was just your average human, the scene would be as follows:

 

The truck would have hit her dead on, crushing and killing her instantly. It would bounce down the street, finally coming to a stop against the solid brick of the Puente Antiguo credit union. Clint Barton would run to the mess of metal, desperately searching for the body of the intern, finally pulling her out of the wreck… or what was left of her.

 

Jane would cry, curse, and throw herself into her work, becoming an angry recluse, focused on revenge against the god Loki for the murder of her friend. Selvig would go on to work for SHEILD to study the Tesseract; the after-effects of Loki’s mind control would be even worse. Clint would pretend he was fine, as he was trained to do, but his behavior on missions would become riskier, less controlled. Even Natasha would worry about him, their relationship becoming strained. Thor, once he finds out about Darcy’s death, would fully blame himself, refusing to meddle in the affairs of Midgardians ever again, which would prove disastrous for earth just a few years later.

 

Luckily for Darcy and the rest of humanity, she was _not_ just your average human. While the truck still slammed into her, instead of continuing its journey to the bank, it stopped against her- unmoving for a few moments before crashing to the ground, distinctly Darcy-shaped dent clearly visible in the wreckage.

 

“Damn it! I just washed this shirt!”

 

Darcy continued to grumble under her breath as she brushed dirt and small bits of metal from her person, more concerned about her clothing than the giant mass of metal that nearly killed her moments before.

 

After she finished dusting herself off, Darcy looked across the street at her officially-super-favorite SHIELD agent, who was staring at her with his mouth wide open, bow hanging loosely at his side. _Wait… bow?!_

 

“I’m sorry, but are you seriously carrying a bow and arrows right now? What were you planning to do, annoy the robot to death?”

 

Darcy hadn’t had time in all the chaos to actually see what kind of weapon Clint was carrying around town. Now that she had, however, she would **never** let it go.

 

“Okay Legolas,” she smirked as she sauntered over to his still frozen form. “unless you’re planning to catch some flies, I would close my mouth if I were you.”

 

With this comment, Clint finally snapped out of his stupor, quickly jumping to defend his choice of weaponry. “I’ll have you know that the bow is a very effective weapon, especially when you take trick arrows and the element of surprise into consideration.” Darcy just raised her eyebrow at this, giving him one of her patented _I’ll believe it when I see it_ looks.

 

“But that’s a conversation for a later date. How about we discuss the fact that you just STOPPED A FLYING 5 TON TRUCK WITH YOUR BODY!!!” Clint was shouting by the end of his statement, breathing fast as if he was trying not to freak out and utterly failing.

 

“Okay, first of all you need to chill the fuck out. You and I both know you knew something was different about me. Secondly, it’s really not that big of a deal. There are other mutants with way cooler abilities than mine.”

 

At this, Clint paused and looked at her closely. “So you’re a mutant?”

 

“Yeah. I am. Got a problem with that?” Darcy had stopped being ashamed of her mutant status a long time ago and was not afraid to kick Clint’s ass if he tried to pull some racist bullshit.

 

“No!” he said quickly, putting his hands up in calming manner. “That’s totally fine! I grew up in the circus- DON’T ask- and half the carnies were mutants!” Darcy desperately wanted to grill him about this little revelation, but decided to let it go for now in favor of the revelation that he didn’t care if she was a mutant. There weren’t many people as understanding as Clint.

 

“So…” he started tentatively. “What _is_ you power exactly? I mean, your mutation.”

 

Darcy smiled at this. It was so rare that she got to explain her mutation to new people, so she was always sure to savor the moment.

 

“Density manipulation. I can become so dense I’m immovable, like you just saw, or so light I can float away.”

 

“AHA!” Clint shouted, pointing at her almost accusingly. “THAT’S how you snuck up on me the other day! I KNEW it wasn’t just luck.” Darcy began to laugh at Clint’s triumph, both thrilled at his easy acceptance of her mutation and his fragile pride.

 

The moment was cut short, however, by the crack of lightning followed quickly by a massive explosion that shook the little town for the second time that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least! Her mutation if revealed! We will see more of her abilities as we go along, but at least you know! I love this type of mutation because I feel like the possibilities are endless as long as you think creatively. 
> 
> 10 points to quadrad for guessing correctly last chapter! 
> 
> Please let me know what you think! I'd love some feedback on the story thus far. Also, let me know what you want to see next! I can't promise it will happen, but you never know when inspiration will strike!


	7. Hell Hath No Fury...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is mad. And then things get worse.

Darcy was furious. Not mad, not angry, but furious. First, Thor fucks off back to space with barely a goodbye, then SHIELD whisked away Erik to some top secret shit to play with magic science cubes (hey, she wasn’t gonna even try with that one). And NOW Clint wasn’t returning her calls.

 

Ever since that day in Puente Antiguo she and Clint had enjoyed an easy friendship, albeit a long-distance one. Having accepted her for who she was, Darcy felt comfortable confiding in Clint, about everything- not just her mutation. Because of the whole ‘Thor incident’, Darcy had enough SHIELD clearance that Clint was able to vaguely bitch about the job without risking a security breach. Their weekly phone calls and daily texts were the only thing keeping her sane during these trying times.

 

She was, of course, talking about the first two things that made her furious and how they were affecting Jane. If she thought the scientist was bad before, it was nothing compared to now. After Thor left and broke the bridge, Jane threw herself into reforming the connection. Darcy could barely get the woman to break for food- the only bargaining chip in her arsenal was that Erik would eat with them and discuss her progress. Once Erik left, Darcy was forced to resort to protein shakes and forced naps; thank god for large labs and Ikea couches.

 

Talking to Clint in some form everyday was pretty much the only thing keeping her grounded at this point. She couldn’t talk to Storm without breaking her SHIELD NDA- the woman was already suspicious enough after the message Darcy left her during Thor’s crazy weekend in Puente Antiguo. Her mom wasn’t even an option. So when Clint stopped responding to her nearly 72 hours ago with no warning, not even a “Hey I’m going in a super top-secret mission and can’t talk for a while” text, she knew something was wrong.

 

“Jane.”

 

…

 

“… JANE.”

 

…

 

“ **JANE!** ”

 

“Huh?” Jane finally looked up from her notes, looking at Darcy as if she just noticed the girl was there.

 

“I know you’re busy with science and getting your hot blonde alien man toy back, but something seriously weird is going on. We haven’t heard from Erik in weeks and now Clint isn’t returning my calls.”

 

“I still don’t understand why you are friends with that thug.”

 

“This really isn’t the time to critique my choice of associates. We need to focus! We need to-“

 

Darcy was loudly and rudely interrupted by the lab door banging open and four SHIELD agents stomping into the room like they owned the place. She was quickly avenged, however, as before the men (rude _and_ sexist) could say anything, Jane started screaming.

 

“NO. NO. NOT AGAIN. GET OUT OF MY LAB RIGHT NOW OR I WILL SUCK YOU INTO THIS MACHINE AND SCATTER YOUR ATOMS ACROSS THE UNIVERSE!!!”

 

Darcy actually had to hold Jane back before she started a full rampage. To their credit, the agents kept a cool façade, although one in the back definitely started sweating. Apparently people were starting to take Jane seriously. About damn time.

 

The clearly senior agent stepped forward, hands raised in a calming gesture. “Dr. Foster, I assure you, we are not here to take or harm your research in any way. In fact, it’s quite the opposite- we are here to escort you to a safe location.”

 

Jane froze in Darcy’s arms, her look of shock mirroring Darcy’s own.

“I beg your pardon?” Jane asked, detangling herself from Darcy’s loosened grasp. “Escort me to a safe location? Why?”

 

“That’s above your security clearance. All I can say is that Dr. Selvig’s research has been compromised and you may be a target yourself.”

 

“What?! A target? Is Erik okay?” Darcy normally would have keep quiet in the background around SHIELD agents, but she had a terrible feeling that Erik and Clint’s silence were linked.

 

“We cannot say Ms. Lewis. And frankly, we don’t know. Our orders are to bring Dr. Foster to a secure location and that is what we are here to do. Now please, time is of the essence.”

 

Darcy and Jane looked at each other, both unhappy with the situation, but too worried about Erik to fight this decision.

 

“Right this way Dr. Foster- don’t worry about bringing anything with you. Everything will be supplied at the location.” Two of the agents flanked Jane and lead her out of the lab while a third spoke softly into a radio, presumably to the transport waiting outside. Darcy grabbed her purse and jacket, turning to follow Jane out before being stopped by the lead agent.

 

“Ms. Lewis, our orders were very clear: Get Dr. Foster to safety. Unfortunately, that doesn’t include you. I suggest you get as far away from this location as possible.”

 

Before Darcy could respond, the agent turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

 

…

 

Darcy was dumbstruck. SHIELD just took her boss to ‘safety’ and left her behind. The sound of a departing helicopter shook her out of her stupor, her rage rushing back to her even stronger than before.

 

_Who the hell do these people think they are?! Leave me behind and in the dark? Well fuck this. They don’t want to tell me what’s going on? Fine. I’ll find out for myself!_

 

With that thought, Darcy stormed out of the room- leaving footprints in the cement and a broken door in her wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone! I'm so sorry for the delay. Good news is, I GOT MY MASTER'S DEGREE!!! I'm celebrating by posting a new chapter. It's not my favorite, but it's leading to some really fun and exciting things. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos during my break- it really kept me motivated to get to a point where I could spend time working on this again. 
> 
> New chapters coming soon!


	8. Calls and Quinjets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all... mostly.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. This was the mantra Darcy had been repeating to herself for the last ten minutes as she worked up the courage to select ‘call’. After she stormed out of the empty lab, Darcy realized she couldn’t do anything if she didn’t know where her people were.

With this in mind, Darcy hit send before she had the chance to chicken out again. Instead, she allowed herself a small panic attack as the phone rang. Maybe he won’t pick… 

“Darcy?! What a wonderful and unexpected surprise!” 

Her reply was briefly caught in her throat, stuck halfway between yelping and hanging up and spilling her guts. “Professor X! How’s it hanging bro?” How’s it hanging bro? Darcy, what the fuck. “I was just calling to catch up.” 

“And…” Charles replied. As always, the professor was far too smart for his own good. 

“Aaaaaand maybe ask for a teeny tiny small favor?” 

Darcy knew it was risky to directly involve the professor, but she didn’t really have any other options. Besides, he’d always had a soft spot for her despite never actually being one of his students. 

…  
…

“… I’m listening.” 

She did not bother to refrain from a quick fist pump of success. 

“I need you to locate someone for me. Agent Phil Coulson from SHIELD.” 

“Now why, pray tell, would you, Darcy Lewis college student, be looking for a SHIELD agent.” 

Darcy panicked. She was afraid of this. While she knew Charles would probably help her, he wasn’t the type to let something go without explanation. 

“Because he stole my Ipod!” she blurted out. It was the first thing she could think of and, to be fair, was completely true. She’d never gotten her precious device back and was still mad about those wasted songs. 

“I know it’s a long shot, but you’re always telling us to ‘try our best’ and ‘never give up’ so… yeah. I’m trying.” Darcy held her breath. She hoped that the grain of truth in there was enough to get the professor to let the rest slide. 

“… I’ll call you back in an hour with his location.” 

After they hung up, Darcy simultaneously sighed with relief and jumped for joy. Her celebration did not last long however. She only had an hour to prepare for the dumbest thing she’s ever done. Like ever. I better get a move on…

*** 

MEANWHILE

There was little conversation as the Quinjet sped over Europe. Steve was simultaneously trying to give Tony a disapproving eye while also watching over their prisoner. The alien… god… villain… guy sat quietly, seemingly unconcerned that he was now in custody. A loud clap of thunder sounded around them as the jet suddenly entered a storm. Loki seemed rattled for the first time, a fact that he wasn’t willing to let slide. 

“What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” 

“I'm not overly fond of what follows.”

***

What the hell was going on. Calling back exactly 60 minutes after they hung up, the professor informed her that Coulson was off the coast near New York in the middle of the ocean. More specifically, about 2 miles above the water in the middle of the ocean. The professor gave her this information somewhat reluctantly, followed by a parting piece of advice: “Be careful Darcy. You’re one of the strongest mutants I’ve ever met, and your potential is almost limitless. But that makes you a target to people like SHIELD, regardless of their supposed good nature. There are those who would argue that the ends justify the means.”

For the first time since Jane was whisked away, Darcy was actually scared, the reality of the situation overwhelming her righteous anger. But family and friends were the only things that really mattered in Darcy’s world. She’d already gone too far to turn back as far as she was concerned, and to be honest, she was itching for a fight. With that, Darcy picked up her phone again, plan in mind.

“Hey Kurt! It’s Darcy. Mind giving a girl a ride?”

*** 

After Kurt left, Darcy gave herself a few minutes to breath and settle her stomach. Transporting once was bad enough, but they had to do a lot of hopping to get from New Mexico all the way to the Jersey shore. Darcy actually had to will herself not to throw up starting somewhere around Iowa. After a few more deep breaths and a small, totally ladylike burp, she was ready to go. Thankfully, the beach was still abandon before sunset, giving her some much needed privacy. Checking the pin she placed on her map, she positioned herself accordingly on the beach, creating a straight line from her to directly below Coulson’s location. A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. Take that math!

Darcy walked to the water’s edge, taking one last look around to make sure she was alone. The last thing she needed was someone claiming that Jesus was reborn as a busty brunette. She was Jewish, but still. Not interested. Thinking light thoughts, Darcy carefully placed a foot on the calm water, testing and adjusting her density as needed. Satisfied with her alterations, she brought her other foot onto the water and began walking. While she’d done this one the pool at home countless times, the ocean was a bit different- she kept having to stop and catch her balance against the waves. “Well, no one ever said this would be easy.” She muttered. Tightening the straps on her new backpack, she pressed on, determined to make it to the location before the sun fully rose.

***

If Steve thought the atmosphere was tense before, it was nothing compared to the mood now that Thor was in the mix. Steve was still glaring at Tony, while Tony was making small but pointed comments about Thor, who was staring at Loki with such intensity that Steve was waiting for the… being to catch fire. The sun was just beginning to rise as the Quinjet made its short descent onto the Helicarrier runway. Steve was ready for some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeyyyyy. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyy. Sorry? Also, not giving up? <3


	9. Whatever Floats Your Boat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy continues her search. Steve does his best.

Darcy had a decision to make. Here she was, literally standing in the middle of the ocean with nothing in sight- around, above, or below- but this was where the professor had led her. Darcy was never one to doubt the professor, but on the off chance he was wrong, she was screwed. She knew how to get up to where Coulson supposedly was, that wasn’t the issue. If he wasn’t there however, if there was nothing but empty air, that’s when she’d be in trouble. Getting up was easy; it was getting back down that she’d always had a problem with. ‘Too late to turn back now ‘ was quickly becoming her new mantra.  
  
Darcy wouldn’t exactly call what she did flying. She knew people who could fly, and they had at least some semblance of control over speed and direction. She was more like a hot air balloon: she could go up and if she did like a frog swim in the air she could kinda move herself, but it wasn’t easy and it definitely wasn’t graceful.  
  
Despite all this, Darcy loved floating. She almost never got the chance to do it- can’t get more obvious than defying gravity- so she reveled in every chance she got. The wind whipped her hair around as she began to rise; she was lucky it was a calm day, strong winds were the last thing she needed.   
  
Pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes, Darcy turned over, face towards the sky. As enjoyable as it was, floating wasn’t exactly a speedy form of transportation. She’s learned the hard way that going to light was even more difficult to control and more often than not caused her to lose her lunch.

Just as She was getting into a nice meditative state, Darcy’s casual float was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a jet. Literally. One minute nothing, next minute: jet. This was nothing, however, compared to what happened next. As the jet got closer, the sky began to ripple. What looked to be a giant floating city materialized, if only briefly, right above Darcy.

As the jet disappeared above the… ship? It too went back to mimicking the sky.

Darcy was shocked. Impressed even. And here I thought the professor had a monopoly on invisible planes.

She would have to look into that more later. Right now she had a bigger concern: the giant floating ship thing that she was rapidly approaching the underside of.

Shit.

***

  
“I understood that reference!”

He would never admit it, but Steve was feeling a bit overwhelmed and woefully underprepared for his current situation. He was still trying to come to terms with the 21st century, and now he was forced to deal with gods and aliens and Tony Stark. He couldn’t help his outburst after Fury referenced The Wizard of Oz, relieved that something from his time was still relevant. The fact that Thor was completely in the dark was an added bonus.

“Shall we play doctor?”

Steve was roused from his musings as the group began to go its separate ways. Following suit, he stood from the conference table. Steve paused a moment, deciding on the best course of action. As much as he wanted to pick Natasha’s brain or maybe learn more about Thor, he thought it best to follow the two scientists. If Stark could anger Steve so quickly, he couldn’t imagine what would happen if he was left alone with Dr. Banner.

***

About 20 feet before Darcy made contact with the hull, the ship began to fade into view once again, as if she was too close now for the trick to work. Slowing herself down a bit by becoming slightly more dense, Darcy managed to grab onto the exterior without too much difficulty or personal injury.

Alright Darcy. Okay. See? That was easy! We’re here. Kinda. We just gotta… find an… opening?

Craning her neck, Darcy looked around her area of the aircraft, looking for some kind of access point. “Ah HA!” she shouted triumphantly, spying what looked to be an air shaft of some sort. Pulling herself along the ship, Darcy slowly made her way to the opening. Pulling off the cover and taking a deep breath, Darcy channeled her inner Clint Barton and pulled herself inside.

Here goes nothing.

***

Steve was seathing. Tony Stark was everything wrong with his father times 100 without any of the late genius’ redeeming qualities. Outside all the bating and grandstanding however, He did think Stark had a point. Why now? At the very least, Stark should have been consulted if they were really using the Tesseract for clean energy. Additionally, shouldn’t Steve himself been consulted once we woke up? He had seen what the cube could do first hand after all. It was time Steve did some investigating of his own.

***

Crawling through air vents, it seems, was much more difficult that Darcy anticipated. She cursed Clint and quoted Die Hard to herself as she continued her journey deeper into the helicarrier.

***

Looking around once more to make sure he was alone, Steve began to pull on the door with all his (considerable) might. Steve had spent enough time in the military to know that the best information was kept behind closed doors in the depths of a base. The fact that this base was flying didn’t change a thing.

After a few minutes of intense pulling, Steve finally managed to break the seal on the door. Sliding it open just enough to slip inside, Steve quietly began searching the room. Boxes and crates were piled high in stacks scattering the large, open room. Although he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for, Steve knew he would find it in here.

Approaching a shorter stack of crates, Steve broke the lock on the top box with ease. Whatever he was expecting to find, it wasn’t thing. Before him, nestled in protective foam, was a clearly upgraded version of the Hydra weapons he had faced back in the 1940s. Enraged, Steve grabbed the top weapon and turned, prepared to storm back to the lab and give Fury a serious dressing down.

*BANG* “SHIT”

Steve froze in his tracks. Someone else was in the storage bay. Turning slowly, he walked further into the room, following a low, rambling voice toward the back wall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Happy 2018. I’m still truckin along on this don’t you worry. Some serious Steve POV in this chapter, thought it would be fun to try something new. Let me know what you think! What’s gonna happen next?!?!


	10. Standoff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Steve have a little chat.

After what felt like years (but was probably closer to 15 minutes), Darcy found a grate in a quiet room to finally make her escape from the vent system. Nothing about this adventure was easy though, so of course the grate refused to budge.

So that’s how it’s gonna be huh? Darcy leaned back from the opening and, with some added density, shoved forward into the vent cover. Unfortunately for her, the vent was much weaker than she realized. As soon as she made contact, the cover clattered to the ground, with Darcy falling out along with it.

*BANG* “SHIT”

I think I’ll leave the vent spelunking to Clint from now on. Darcy thought to herself as she got her barings. Hauling herself up from the floor, she dusted off her jeans and took stock of the situation. Despite the fall, the only thing actually injured was Darcy’s pride. Looking around, she seemed to be in some sort of storage room, probably in the bottom of the…

“Ummm, who the hell are you and how did you get in here… miss?”

It was Darcy’s turn to freeze. Of course she would manage to find the one random room with a person inside it. Cursing to herself quietly, she slowly raised her arms in an ‘I’m unarmed please don’t hurt me’ gesture and turned around.

***

Whatever Steve was expecting to find, it wasn’t this. He stared on in confusion as a young woman picked herself up off the ground, clearly having just fallen from the now uncovered ventilation shaft. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Steve found himself at a loss for what to do. Normally, he would jump to action and apprehend the intruder. But not only did this woman not look the part of a Loki minion, he himself was trespassing in the bay as well. Deciding that this day was just meant to be insane, he got straight to the point. 

“Ummm, who the hell are you and how did you get in here… miss?”

Just because she was an intruder didn’t mean he had to be rude.

***

“Hey, it’s okay… WHOA don’t shoot!” As Darcy fully turned around, the first thing she noticed was the very scary looking gun the man was holding. The second was that he was dressed like an American flag. 

“I’m not going to shoot you.” the man said, gently placing the weapon on the ground. “Just tell me why you’re here.” 

Now that he wasn’t armed, Darcy took a moment to really look this guy over. Oh sit! He’s HOT. While the dude wasn’t Thor ripped, he had a lot of muscles, clear blue eyes, and, if he turned around, Darcy would be good money he had a nice ass to boot. Darcy knew she could take him if it came down to that, but strength wasn’t her strong suit: talking was.

“What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here?” Hands on her hips, Darcy tried flipping the script. “This is a secure area. You shouldn’t be down here and you definitely shouldn’t have that.” She said, pointing to the fancy gun.

“Ummm…” the Flag-man blushed. She clearly caught him doing something he knew he shouldn’t be. “How about you tell me why you’re here, and if I believe you, we can pretend we never saw each other?”

“Deal.”

***

Steve could kick himself. He was a war hero, a superhero, but all it took was a pretty girl and a stern look to get him blushing. At this point, he was much more concerned with the Hydra 2.0 weapons than this strange girl, so if he was sure she wouldn’t kill everyone onboard, he was happy to forget this ever happened. 

***

Holy shit I can’t believe that worked. She would have to remember to tell her mom that all those years of bullshitting finally paid off. “Long story short, I’m just here to make sure my friends are okay. I stopped hearing from them a few days ago and I’m super worried. If anyone knows where they are, it’s Agent Coulson.”

Darcy held her breath. She hoped that name-dropping Agent Ipod-Stealer would award her some brownie points. Flag-boy was scrutinizing her, searching for some sign of deception. While it was far from the whole truth, Darcy told him the basics, and that was more than anyone here deserved. 

“I believe you.” he said, relaxing his posture. “It I see you causing any trouble, I’ll throw you off this thing myself.” With that, he grabbed the weapon and ran out of the room. 

“Ditto!” Darcy shouted after him. Even in a high tense situation, she wasn’t going to let some star spangled strong-man get the last word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the votes! A choice has been made... but you’ll have to wait and see!


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